Comments

Revised Common Lectionary Commentary

Clippings:
Third Sunday of Advent - December 11, 2016

Saint Dominiccontemplating the Scriptures

Author's note:Sometimes I have material left over when I edit Comments down to
fit the available space. This page presents notes that landed on the clipping
room floor. Some may be useful to you. While I avoid technical language
in the Comments (or explain special terms), Clippings may have unexplained
jargon from time to time.

A hypertext Glossary of Terms is integrated with Clippings. Simply
click on any highlighted word in the text and a pop-up window will appear
with a definition. Bibliographic references are also integrated in the
same way.

Verses 5-6: The overcoming of basic human limitations and all infirmity
will truly be a renewal of the world. [
CAB]

Verse 5: “the eyes of the blind shall be opened”: The most
unfortunate among the exiled will be among the first to share these blessings. In
Matthew
11:5, this is a sign of the
messianic age. [
JBC]

Verse 6: The manuscript of Isaiah found at
Qumran reads “streams in the desert shall flow.”

Verse 7: “swamp”: One scholar says this should read “cattle
range” or “pasture”.

Verse 8-9: These verses are reminiscent of paradise regained.
11:6-9 says “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down
with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child
shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole
of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will
not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea”. [
NOAB]

Verses 9-10: “the redeemed ... the ransomed”: The exiles are
to be ransomed from bondage, as were their ancestors at the time of the Exodus. (The
New Testament understands the coming of Christ in terms of a new and definitive Exodus:
see John
6:48-51; 1 Corinthians
10:1-4; Hebrews
12:18-24. So the Exodus is a
type for the return from the Exile and for salvation through Christ.) [
JBC]

Verses 3-4: The inadequacy of humans. In
144:3-4, the psalmist wonders: “O
Lord, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think
of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow”. [
NOAB]

Verses 3-6: The
wisdom character of these verses, contrasting human mortality and God as creator,
is also found in
90:2-3: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed
the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn us
back to dust, and say, ‘Turn back, you mortals’”. Wisdom language
is also found in vv.
8-9. [
NJBC]

Verse 8: “opens the eyes of the blind”: See Isaiah
42:7;
61:1. A scholar says that this phrase is an idiom for freeing captives. [
NJBC]

Verses 8-9: “the Lord loves the righteous ... but the way of the
wicked he brings to ruin”: The same
wisdom thought as in
1:6. [
NJBC]

Verse 9: “strangers ... orphan ... widow”: For the obligation
of all people not to abuse the defenceless, see also Exodus
22:21-22 and Deuteronomy
10:18. For royal responsibility to protect the alien, the fatherless and the
widow, see Jeremiah
22:1-4. [
NJBC]

Verse 10: The concluding expression of praise, addressed to the community.
[
NOAB]

Verse 10: “The Lord will reign forever”: See also Exodus
15:18 (Moses’ or Miram’s song after the crossing of the Reed, or
Red, Sea). [
NJBC]

Luke 1:46b-55

There is a strange anomaly in vv.
46-47: the
NOAB,
CAB and
QVNR have “My soul magnifies the Lord,” in v.
46 while
Nlsn has these words in v.
47. The
REB is like the NOAB, CAB and QVNR.

The Magnificat is based largely on Hannah’s prayer: see 1 Samuel
2:1-10. [
NOAB] Both Elizabeth and Hannah were childless for a long time and dedicated
their children as
Nazirites. [
JBC] Vv.
46-50 deal with Mary and vv.
51-55 universalize from Mary’s experience to reflect God’s dealing
with all who hold God in awe (v.
50). [
NJBC]

Some copies of the
Old Latin version say that Elizabeth is the speaker, but all Greek manuscripts
say the speaker is Mary. [
NJBC]

Verses 48-49: “all generations will call me blessed ...”:
An allusion to Malachi
3:12: “Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of
delight, says the Lord of hosts”.
See also Psalm
111:9. [
JBC]

Verse 49: “Mighty”: The might of God, for whom nothing is
impossible (v.
37) is contrasted with the “lowliness” (v.
48) of Mary. [
NJBC]

Verses 51-53: The verbs in the Greek are in the
aorist (past) tense. Because the aorist can indicate various times of
action, scholars differ as to the precise meaning because they do not see how God
has accomplished (past tense) all this in the mere conception of Jesus.
NJBC prefers the interpretation that these actions are what God characteristically
does (
gnomic aorist) and is beginning to do now in the conception of Jesus.

Verses 51-53: Who are the rich, arrogant, mighty, powerful, proud
and the lowly, hungry? Scholars vary in their opinions. The poor seem to
be those best able to receive God’s grace, without wealth, etc. getting in
the way. [
NJBC]

Verse 51: For redemption through God’s might in the Old Testament,
see Exodus
6:6 (delivery from slavery in Egypt); Deuteronomy
4:34 (“by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays
of power, as the Lord your God did
for you in Egypt”); Jeremiah
27:5 (“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made
the earth”); Isaiah
40:10;
51:9. [
JBC]

God builds the new in salvation history upon promises made to Abraham, but membership
in the reconstituted Israel is God’s gift. It elicits a response of appropriate
conduct, and is not solely contingent on one’s ethnic heritage. [
NJBC]

Verses 7-9: Three references to the coming of Christ stand in contrast
to the preceding passage on seeking riches in vain. [
NOAB]

Verse 7: “Be patient”: The verb indicates self-restraint,
which enables the sufferer to refrain from retaliation or precipitous action. This
phrase summarizes the whole section. Be patient not only when faced by outrageous
injustice (vv.
4-6) but in the ordinary trials of life (vv.
9,
12-14,
19). [
NJBC]

Verse 7: “the early and the late rains”: Deuteronomy
11:14 and Joel
2:23 mention both rainy seasons. [
NJBC]

Verse 8: “Strengthen your hearts”: 1 Thessalonians
3:13 says :”... may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may
be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his
saints”. [
NJBC]

Verse 8: “the coming of the Lord is near”: See also Philippians
4:5 (“... The Lord is near”); Hebrews
10:25 (“as you see the Day approaching”),
37 (“... in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will
not delay”); 1 John
2:18 (“... it is the last hour! ...”); Revelation
22:10 (“... the time is near ...”),
12 (“I am coming soon”),
20. [
NJBC]

Verse 9: Note the abrupt change to seeing the coming of the Lord as that
of a judge. [
NJBC]

Verse 10: “As an example ... take the prophets”: The prophets
are represented as martyrs: see also Matthew
23:29-31. In Acts
7:42, Stephen quotes Amos: “‘Did you offer to me slain victims and
sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?’”. [
NJBC]

Verse 2: “in prison”: At Machaerus, a fortress about 8 km
(5 miles) east of the Dead Sea. [
NOAB]

Verses 4-5: Jesus invites John to answer his own question: does Jesus
fulfil Isaiah’s prophecies?

Verse 5: “the blind receive their sight ...”: These notions
of rescue are also found in Isaiah
29:18-19;
35:5-6;
61:1. Jesus reads Isaiah
61:1 in the synagogue at Nazareth and interprets it as being fulfilled in him:
see Luke
4:18-21. [
NOAB]

Verse 7: “a reed shaken by the wind?”: These crowds knew that
John was a sturdy, fearless man, who sacrificed personal comfort to be loyal to God
and to speak the prophetic word people needed. [
BlkMt] On the other hand, note Isaiah
42:1-4, a
Servant Song: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my
soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the
nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a
bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will
faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has
established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.”

Verse 10: Malachi
3:1 says: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me
...”; however Jesus’ quotation agrees precisely with neither the Hebrew
text nor the
Septuagint translation. 2 Kings
2:11 tells us that “Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven”.
Malachi
4:5 foretells his return: “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before
the great and terrible day of the Lord
comes”. [
BlkMt]

Verse 11: Great as John the Baptiser is, because Jesus, unlike John, is
in the Kingdom. John announced the imminence of the Kingdom, but he himself still
stood within the old order. [
BlkMt]

Verse 12:
BlkMt says that this verse is difficult. The final struggle has begun; God’s
power is at work through Jesus to establish his reign, but his Kingdom is suffering
violence; violent people are trying to seize or snatch away this blessing and keep
people from accepting God’s rule. In this time of crisis, great with opportunity
but full of danger for those not alert to respond at once, Jesus says with stern
emphasis: “Let anyone with ears listen!” (v.
15).